


Next to Your Heartbeat, Where I Should Be

by HuntersMoon47



Series: Wait For Me To Come Home [12]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Reunions, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:07:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24735142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuntersMoon47/pseuds/HuntersMoon47
Summary: Back on Normandy, where they should be
Relationships: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Series: Wait For Me To Come Home [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/646886
Comments: 5
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

Danica wanted to punch something. Repeatedly. Until it broke underneath the force of her decades of training and cybernetic enhancements. She tried to listen to Hackett talk about the Prothean device, but her blood was still boiling from her conversation with the Asari councilor. Not for the first time, she wondered why in the hell she’d sacrificed so many human lives to save the Council. They’d been nothing but ignorant, stubborn pains her ass ever since. And now she had to worry about figuring out what, exactly, the Illusive Man’s angle in all of this was too. 

“Shepard, you listening?” Hacket asked. Danica ran a hand over her face.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “How do you see us winning this war, Admiral?”

Hackett studied her for a moment. 

“By making you the tip of the spear. I’ll find their soft spots and strike at gaps in the armor,” he said with conviction. Danica looked down at the floor, hiding the wince on her face from the admiral. “Honestly, though, everything is a delaying action for you, Shepard. I need you to gather who and what we need for the device.”

“I’ll do what I can, Admiral,” she said because that was all she could say. There were no other options. No one else had the contacts she did; had the number of favors to call in that she did; knew the right buttons to push to make important people do what was needed the way that she did. She looked back up. Even in holo form, she could tell Hackett was weary. “How are you holding up?”

Hackett glanced away, his voice tight when he responded. 

“I sacrificed the entire 2nd Fleet to cover the retreat of the 3rd and 5th. Hell, Shep, I just presided over the biggest military loss in human history.” He looked back at her. “I suppose now I have an inkling of what it must have felt like for you in Arathot.” 

Nausea rolled over her as it did every time someone mentioned that day. Danica swallowed past the lump that rose in her throat but couldn’t get any words out.

“I know it won’t matter much at this point - what’s done is done - but I am sorry Commander,” Hacket said quietly in a rare moment of gentleness. “I am sorry that you had to make that choice; that I’m the one that put you in the position to make it. And I’m sorry for what came after. I’d like to say that it was worth it to push off war with the Batarians, but…”

“We can’t know that and we never will,” Danica finished for him. She didn’t have the time or energy to dwell on the anger that still lingered over the whole situation; over the pain and the grief and the guilt and the regret. They had bigger problems to deal with; bigger problems than the snuffing out of 300,000 lives. “Like you said, what’s done is done. You couldn’t have known what the situation there was. If it helps, I stopped blaming you a long time ago.”

Hackett responded with a characteristic silent nod. The two of them pushed past a few more matters and then signed off. Weariness rolled over Danica as she trotted down the stairs into the newly added War Room. Primarch Victus was on the other side of the room, his mandibles pulled tight, a low and frustrated Turian growl echoing off the metal walls of the circular room. 

“Anything I can help with, Primarch?” She asked, working to keep the exhaustion out of her voice. Victus looked up from his datapad, his facial plates relaxing a bit. 

“You’ve got plenty to handle, Commander,” he rumbled. “Besides, not much you can do about casualty reports.”

“Ah.” Danica sighed. She hadn’t looked at the reports from Earth. Only a single set had come through in the week since the invasion but she couldn't stomach reading the list of names knowing how many names didn’t make it on; how many more were dead than were accounted for. She supposed it was one luxury she had, not worrying about that. Her focus had to be on the rest of the galaxy. Dwelling on thoughts of Earth was distraction she couldn’t afford - mentally or emotionally. “I understand. Leaving Earth to save it...it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

“I’m not surprised. Garrus speaks highly of you.” Victus’s sharp eyes studied her closely, clearly fishing for information. 

“As he does of you,” she responded, side-stepping the question even though there was no use hiding anything from the Primarch. She’d heard the same subvocals coming out of Garrus on Menae as he had. That didn’t mean she needed to confirm or deny anything. “Any idea where he might be?”

“He said he had to work on the Normandy’s weapons systems,” Victus answered, still watching her closely. ‘Something about...calibrations.”

“Oh, for the love of God,” Danica groaned. Rubbing a hand over her face, she thanked the Primarch and went to find her Turian. 

________

She didn’t make it to the Main Battery until almost two hours later. And after dealing with EDI having a new fucking body, she was so tired she wasn’t sure she’d even be able to have a coherent conversation. All she knew was that she needed to see him. 

When the door to the battery slid open, Garrus’ voices greeted her. He glanced up at her as the door closed. Victus’s voice echoes over his open comm channel. 

“We need to turn this around. And fast.”

“Well, you can trust Shepard, Sir,” Garrus said, his eyes locked on her. “If anyone can get the Krogan to cooperate, it’s her. She’s old friends with Urdnot Wrex.”

“Let's just hope that friendship still counts for something in this war.” Victus wasn’t alone in his skepticism. Danica knew Wrex had made a lot of progress with the Krogans but she wasn’t sure it was enough. Grunt was on planet too, last she knew. But two allies among a race known for holding grudges and stubbornness was unlikely to be enough. 

“I’m sure it will, Sir.” Garrus’ undying confidence in her made her smile as he signed off with the Primarch. 

“Didn’t waste any time getting to work, I see.” She tried to keep her tone light, figuring they both needed it at the moment. Garrus snorted. 

“After what I’ve been through lately, calibrating a giant gun is a vacation. It gives me something to focus on.” His voice was tight and pained. Danica reached out and squeezed his arm. It had been hard enough for her to leave Anderson on Earth; she couldn’t imagine what it was like for him knowing that his father and little sister were still down on Palaven. He hadn’t said anything about his mother. Danica knew she’d been sick while they were hunting the Collectors and wondered if she’d passed before the invasion. She’d have to ask him later. 

He stepped closer to her

“So, is this the part where we shake hands?” He rumbled. “I wasn’t sure about the protocol on reunions. Or, if you even felt the same way about me. The scars are starting to fade. I remember they drove you wild. But I can go out and get all new ones if it will help.”

“I’d rather you didn’t. I never want to see you take a rocket to the face again.” Danica snorted. She rose up on her toes and pressed her lips to his mouth plates. His rumbling purr grew louder, echoing around the room as he took another step closer. She was pressed against him now, though his armor prevented her from feeling his heat. “That’s the protocol on reunions. My feelings haven’t changed.”

“The vids mentioned it might go something like that. I had hoped it would. I mean, I didn’t know...” His voice trailed off when she grabbed his hand. She held his gaze trying desperately to think of what to say. Weeks she’d spent thinking of the moment when she’d see him again - if she’d see him again - and what she’d say; how she would tell him just how much she’d missed him; that she never wanted to live another day without him at her side. But now the words just wouldn’t come out. And she had to say something or he was going to think she’d lost the ability to speak. Her omni-tool pinged but she ignored it.

“I can’t promise how things will work out, but I missed you Garrus. I thought about you a lot.” 

“Glad to know my romantic, um…” He cleared his throat and settled into the cocky stance that she knew so well. She almost cried, even if it was entirely ridiculous. She’s missed him so, so much. “...skills made an impression because it’s going to take more than Reapers to get between this cross-species liaison.”

Danica gaped at him for a moment before she snorted out a laugh. Garrus froze with horror, the way he always did when stupid shit came out of his mouth. It just made her laugh even harder. 

“Damnit, Shepard, you’re always making me so damned tongue-tied,” Garrus groaned, making Danica go into another fit of laughter. The Turian eventually chuckled along until Danica regained her composure and caught her breath. 

They spent several minutes catching up, Danica continuing to ignore the notifications coming in on her omni-tool. She asked about Victus and goaded Garrus about being Primarch if they won but he brushed her off. Garrus told her about his new position as Reaper Advisor and how his father had helped get him the ear of the old Primarch. She told him she was impressed that he managed to get the attention of the Hierarchy. 

“I just followed your example,” he snorted. “Yell loud enough and someone will eventually come over to see what all the fuss is about. Not that they’ll actually do anything about it.”

“Until hell shows up at their door. Then they put you in charge.” Even now, bitterness at the deaf ears her warnings had fallen over the last three years welled up in her chest. If only they had listened.

“Not like the old days, is it? Rouge spectre and C-Sec agent running and gunning outside the lines, making it up as we went along. We’re actually respectable now.” His eyes were fixed on her, studying her intently. The joke was clearly an attempt to lighten the mood. She’d almost forgotten how well he could read her. 

“Yeah, well, I have a feeling that respect comes with a lot of sleepless nights. I can’t even count how many lives are depending on us, Garrus.”

“Well, when things are looking grim, and I’m pretty sure they will, just remember we’re in this together. Shepard and Vakarian.” His subvocals rumbled in that deep, familiar affectionate tone and Danica felt some of the tension in her body ease. He was here with her. Shepard and Vakarian. There was no one else she’d be willing to do this with. “And if it ends up with both of us dying in a giant explosion, taking out a Reaper, remember I took the kill shot.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved at him with a wink. Her omni-tool pinged again. She groaned and finally looked at it. “I’ve got to run. Want to meet up later? I’ll ping you when I’ve finished everything for the day cycle.”

“You know where to find me,” his deep tone sending shivers down her back. God, she could not wait to get him alone. “And this time, I can afford the good stuff. There are a few perks to being an Expert Reaper Advisor.”

“Deal,” Danica said with a wink. 

“Now, I’m sure somebody screwed up something down here. I’m gonna get the old girl back in fighting shape.” 

Danica chuckled to herself as Garrus turned back to his console and began calibrations.


	2. Garrus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day, I will finish this story. It is not this day, but it will come. 
> 
> For now, we're slowly but steadily truckin' along.
> 
> Thank you for all your kudos and words of encouragement. I love these two so much and it makes me happy to know you all love them as much as I do.

It had been a long day. Part of him felt guilty; he hadn’t even been fighting like so many others across the galaxy. But seeing Shepherd again, searching for Victus, leaving Palaven and Menae behind - the emotions of it all were taxing. He’d been waiting to hear from Shepherd before going up to her cabin but he was so tired, he was contemplating taking a nap until she pinged him.

He shut down the console and wandered over to the little alcove where he had always kept his cot and personal items. The ping of his omni-tool made him jump. He really was exhausted. 

“You have no idea how nice it is to be able to do this,” she said when her face popped up on his visor. 

“I have an idea,” he countered as he went to dig some things out of his bag and then paused. It wasn’t there. 

“If you’re looking for your gear, I stole it,” Shepherd’s voice rang in his ear. “I was thinking your talents would be better suited elsewhere on the ship. Like my cabin. And my bed. Makes it easier to catch up on lost time and all.” 

A low growl immediately escaped him, along with all thoughts of being tired. 

“Oh yeah?” He was thankful she wasn’t in the room with him so she couldn’t hear his heart pounding. Even after earlier, he had been worried things wouldn’t be the same. He locked the calibration panel and headed for the elevator, ignoring the rest of the new crew he hadn’t met yet eating dinner in the mess. He could meet them later. There were more important things for him to take care of.

“You asking me to move in, Shepherd?” He asked, keeping his voice low. Everyone on board would know soon enough but they didn’t need to overhear the discussion. 

“Yes,” she said in her matter-of-fact tone. “Actually, I’m skipping the asking and jumping to the assumption that you’re bunking with me. I fucking missed you, Garrus, and I’m not about to lose out on any time we might have.” 

He stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button for the Captain’s quarters. 

“You sure you're up for having me in your space. I’ll have you know, I’m fairly high up in the Turian Hierarchy. Generals salute me.” he said.

Shepard snorted out a laugh. 

“I hate to break it to you, Big Guy, but the Turian Hierarchy doesn’t mean much around here. My ship, my rules.”

“Hmm, something tells me I won’t mind you being in charge,” He drawled in the low, rough voice he knew she loved. Even over the vid call, he could see the desire flash in her eyes. It was so easy to slip back into things with her. So natural. And he was so relieved. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if she had moved on. 

“Oh, you’re going to love it," she purred back at him. Garrus was about to respond when her brow pinched and the joy drained from her expression. “Fuck, I’ve got another call.”

“Take it,” He said without hesitation. He understood better now, why she always made herself available. He’d done the same thing for months. Garrus quickly reached out and punched the button for the CIC. He’d stop and see Liara before heading up to Shepard’s cabin to give her time. “I’ll be up in a bit.”

“Give me thirty minutes,” she said, then cut him off, probably to catch the incoming call. 

He stepped off the elevator when it stopped at CIC, nodding to the new woman who stood where Chambers used to, before heading for Liara’s new office. She had completely gutted the place from when Lawson used it. Screens hung on every wall, lights flashing, and her bed was tucked into the back corner. 

“Damn, Liara, got enough stuff in here?” he said, side-stepping a large sphere bobbing in the air. She didn’t look away from her screens when she responded. 

“Right now, it does not feel like it,” her words were tight and clipped. If he didn’t know her so well, he would think she was mad at him, but she was just focused on her work. “I did not anticipate having to move my entire operation into this one small space when I left for Mars weeks ago. But the Reapers showed up; then Shepard; then we had to rush to get Kaiden back to the Citadel; then it was straight to Menae; and then EDI uploaded herself into a new body...it just never ends!”

Throwing her hands up with a sigh, Liara stepped back and looked at the ceiling. 

“EDI, can you come down here to help me with this, please?” She said. 

“Certainly,” EDI responded in her usual, calm tone. Liara let out another sigh and finally glanced at Garrus. She looked tired. Like they all did, he supposed. All of them who had been in this fight from the beginning. Three years was a long time to fight a war with no reinforcements. 

“How are you, T’Soni?” He said, his mandibles twitching with amusement. She glared at him. 

“Don’t tease me, Garrus. I’m the Shadow Broker now - it is a lot to manage!”

“And I’m an advisor to the Turian Primarch.”

The two of them looked at each other for a few long moments before they burst out laughing. 

“By the Goddess, how did we end up here? A researcher everyone thought was crazy and a rouge C-Sec officer?” Liara asked, still laughing. Garrus shook his head.

“Shepard drug our asses here, that’s how,” he said and Liara quickly nodded in response. 

“When I saw her on Mars,” Liara began, her face growing serious. “I was so...relieved. It’s probably not fair to her, but I just feel like, if she’s here, we have a shot.”

“Yeah,” Garrus sighed and leaned a hip against her console. “Believe me, I get the feeling.”

“And then Kaiden walked in behind her and it was like time rolled back three years…” Liara signed and mirrored Garrus’s stance. Garrus swallowed the irritation he always felt when the human’s name was brought up; the residual anger he felt toward him after the way he’d treated Shepard on Horizon. He’d watched the mission video; seen Alenko get beaten by that droid; heard Shephard screaming his name. The sound of her voice - it had broken his heart. 

“Any word from the hospital on how he’s doing?” Garrus asked. Liara shook her head. 

“I haven’t had time to look,” she confessed. “There are just too many other things to monitor, I’m leaving that to Chawkwas to take care of.”

“Fair enough.” Anything else Garrus was going to say got cut off when the door slid open and someone - or something - stepped into the room. It was a tall, slender, silver female with a visor across its eyes and what looked like hair, that hung - sort of - just above its shoulders. Garrus felt his mouth drop open when it greeted him with EDI’s voice.

“Hello, Advisor Vakaraian,” she said, sauntering over. “It is nice to have you on board once again. I am sure the Commander is relieved to have you back.”

“EDI, this is your new body?” Garrus asked, his eyes running up and down, not even feeling bad. The droid tipped its head to the side.

“I understand the shock, as this is the same body that the previous owner used to injure Major Alenko, but I assure you, I am in full control. It is in superior combat condition and the Commander needs all the help she can get. I wanted to help more,” EDI said. Garrus pushed himself off the console. 

“Joker is going to lose his shit,” he said, chuckling. And EDI, the ship AI now housed in a droid’s body, grinned at him mischievously. 

“If staring at me with his mouth open and not being able to speak is ‘losing his shit,’ then I believe he has already done so.” And then she winked at him before turning to Liara. “How can I be of assistance, Dr. T’soni?”

Garrus took that as his cue to leave. It had been at least thirty minutes and if he didn’t leave now, he was going to go into investigator mode to figure out exactly how EDI was pulling this off. He’d leave it for another time.

The ride up to her cabin took far too long, even if it was less than a minute. He smiled when the door to her cabin slid open for him automatically; she already programmed him in. He was barely in the door when she was flinging herself at him, just like she had done when he'd come in after her return from the dead. This time, he was ready though and he swung her up into his arms, pressing her close to his body as her legs hitched over his hip spurs and she wrapped them around him. He squeezed her so tight he was sure it was uncomfortable, but she didn't say anything. Garrus buried his face in her neck and breathed dead. 

Vanilla and brown sugar.

At last, after six months, he was home.


	3. Danica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunion Smut: Part 1

The heat of his body warmed her skin, even through her clothes. She was thankful she’d changed out of her uniform earlier. It would have been far too restrictive for her to wrap herself around her Turian as she was now - arms tight around his cowl, legs snuggled into his hip spurs and squeezing around his waist, face pressed into the tough leather of his neck. She inhaled his scent as she felt him do the same to her - metal, oil, and that hint of spice she loved so much. Tears stung her eyes as his grumble vibrated through her body and he clung as tight to her as she did to him. 

And then her back was pressed against the cool wall of the fish tank and Garrus rolled his hips into hers. Desire shot through her like hot lightning and she dropped her head back against the wall with a thud. Garrus was immediately on her neck, nipping and licking, sending shivers down her spine. 

“Fuck, Garrus,” she moaned, sliding her fingers up and under his fringe, pressing her fingers into the soft hide there. Her Turian growled low in his throat, pulling away from her throat and pressing his forehead to hers. He kept his eyes closed for a moment, pulling in breaths through his nose, clearly trying to gather some sort of control. She didn’t know why; she wanted him to lose control. But she waited to see what he needed. 

“Dani…” he took another deep breath and then slowly opened his eyes. Danica’s heart felt like it was going to explode out of her chest. The look in his eyes was one she’d seen there before - flashes of it. But here, now, it was so intense she could barely breathe. With a reassuring smile, she placed a palm on his scared mandible and he pressed into it. “I don’t know...once I get going...I don’t want to hurt you.”

So sweet, this Turian of hers. 

“Garrus Vakarian, if you don’t fuck me and fuck me good, I swear to all the gods in the universe, I will…”

She was cut off by a deep growl and the press of his plates to her lips. Garrus thrust his tongue into her mouth and pressed his body closer to hers, pressing her so hard against the wall, she could barely breathe. And then talons slid under her shirt and she was lost in the sensation for a moment - the feel of his talons scratching along her sides, his tongue sliding against hers, his hips rolling into her, pressing the erection that was already out of his plates into her core. It was heaven and it was not enough. 

“Garrus,” she groaned. “Please.”

Gasping for air, he pulled away from her again. One hand slid away from her but before she could bemoan its absence, he slowly sliced her shirt from bottom to top with one talon, his eyes locked with hers the whole time, and fuck all if it wasn’t one of the hottest things he’d ever done. Panting, core burning with heat and need, Shepard fumbled with the clasps on his shirt as he ran his hands over her skin. She gave up and dropped her head back again in pleasure when he scraped his talons over her nipples. Even through the thin satin of her bra, it was enough to drive her crazy. 

Somehow Garrus managed to get himself undressed while still attending to her - teasing her nipples; licking the skin between her breasts, up, over, and across her collar bones; nipping at her earlobes. She didn’t know how he did it and she didn’t care. He was out of his plates and she could feel the wet tip of him against her stomach. With a monumental effort, she pulled her head away from the wall to look down so she could touch him. 

Garrus rumbled so loud when she wrapped her hand around him, she was sure the whole ship could hear. And she didn’t care. Danica risked a glance up at him. He was staring at her intently, almost like he was daring her to do something. She smiled as she slowly moved her hand down his length and then back again, Garrus’ eyes sliding close in pleasure. And then she swiped her thumb across his tip, gathering up the wetness there. 

It was like a damn broke. Garrus growled deep in his throat and surged forward, pressing his plates to her mouth again. He pulled her hand away and clasped both her wrists in one hand above her head. Danica was vaguely aware of him literally tearing her shorts off her body but it didn’t matter because she could feel him now - skin on hide - and she nearly cried with anticipation and desire. 

“I need you,” she gasped. “Spirits, Garrus, please…”

All of the air left her lungs when he began to press into her. She was so wet but after six months of nothing but her own fingers, she was so tight. Garrus gasped with the effort of controlling himself, trying to slide in slowly. It hurt but it didn’t matter; she didn’t care. The pleasure of it took the edge of the pain away and rolled through her body, from her core all the way to her toes; wave after wave as he moved deeper and deeper. 

“Dani,” Garrus groaned, his sub-vocals so loud that they vibrated through her. “Fuck, you’re so tight.”

“I’ve been waiting for you,” she gasped. “Waiting for you to come home.”

Whatever control Garrus had maintained until that point snapped. He slammed into her until he was fully hilted. Danica cried out in pleasurable pain but it didn’t matter. It was all a blur. The sounds of his hide slapping into her skin, her cries of pleasure, his grunts and groans. Eventually, he dropped her wrists so he could hold her up while he changed his angle. Stars erupted behind her eyelids as he hit that spot inside her. Her skin was on fire; electricity ran up and down her spine, pulling her closer and closer to the edge. She could feel it rushing at her as her pleasure built and built; could feel Garrus’s thrusts grow more erratic; knew what was coming was going to be breathtaking. 

He came first, head thrown back in pleasure, a shout starting deep in his chest and rising until it was so loud it made her ears ring, Watching him; feeling his talons break into her skin as he squeezed her hips, pulled her over the edge with him. It felt like a supernova - every inch of her tingling, like stardust burning into her flesh and lighting it afire. It coursed through her body over and over until she was shuddering and shaking and felt like she was floating away all at the same time. She clung to it, pulled it over her like a blanket for as long as she could - this ecstasy; this escape from reality. 

When she floated back into herself, she was still pressed against the fish tank, Garrus was still holding her up, but she could feel him wobbling a bit beneath her. His face was pressed into her neck and she was absent-mindedly running her fingers lightly up and down his fringe. She allowed them a few more moments like that before breaking the spell. 

“Hey Big Guy,” she whispered. Garrus didn’t respond right away and when he did it was an almost pathetic sounding groan. Danica laughed. “You dead?”

“Almost,” he moaned against her skin. Even though she’d just had one of the best orgasms of her life, she shivered when his breath tickled her skin. Garrus, still inside her, must have felt her shudder because he finally straightened up. “Insatiable woman.”

She just grinned at him. 

“Take me to bed, Advisor Vakarian.”


	4. Garrus

He was so unsteady, he wasn’t sure he was going to make it to the bed. He’d nearly fallen over with her while he was coming. That would have been so typical. 

But, he made it to the bed, nearly collapsing onto its surface, Shepard still in his arms, him still inside her. Garrus slid back so he was resting against the wall but Shephard made no move to get off him. Instead she slowly, gently rolled her hips. They both let out small moans of pleasure. He certainly wasn’t ready to go again quite yet, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to pull her off either. Just sitting here, inside her, feeling her heat wrapped around her - Spirits, it was heaven. 

And then they started talking, catching up, just sitting there still joined. It was certainly something Garrus had never experienced but, somehow, it just felt right. She told him about her time on Earth, the hearing, her frustrations, about the day the Reapers came, Anderson insisting on staying planet-side, Mars, Kaiden, and then finally finding him. He told her about going back to Palavan, about his conversation with his father, his mother’s passing, the creation of the Reaper task force and his sudden jump in the hierarchy, what it was like understanding what it was like leading people, how he understood her so much more, how his father and sister were still on Palavan and he hadn’t heard from them yet. Throughout the conversation, they explored one another - touching, kissing, rolling their hips. He found a scar on her shoulder that hadn’t been there before and she explained fighting off husks on Earth. She found the gunshot wound on his side that had nearly taken him out of action the first day the Reapers showed up. 

As their pleasure built, the talking turned into soft sighs and moans. Shepard held a slow and steady pace and it was beginning to drive him wild. He started nipping at her skin, trying to elicit a faster pace, but she wouldn’t budge. Eventually, he gripped her waist and tried to flip them, but she was too fast for him. She grabbed his hands and pinned them against the wall. Garrus could have easily gotten out of her grip, but the white-hot pleasure that shot through his body when she took control like that nearly took his breath away. Shepard noticed it too. 

“Like that, do you?” she whispered, mischief dancing in her eyes. She leaned forward until her lips were at his ear. “I told you, Vakarian, my ship, my rules. I”m in charge here.”

An embarrassing sounding whine escaped his mouth at those words as he felt his eyes roll back. Images of her standing over him, his wrists tied behind him, helpless under her control flashed through his mind and he whined again. He’d never thought of it before but now that he had, he wasn’t sure how he was ever going to get the image out of his mind. His hips bucked up and nearly knocked Shepard off balance, but she tightened her legs around his waist to steady herself, pulling yet another desperate sound from him as she pressed into the sensitive skin there. 

“Oh, he does like it,” she said, as if talking to herself. “He likes it a lot.”

“Dani,” he whined, gasping as she gave a hard roll of her hips. She trailed her lips down his neck, along the bottom of his scared mandible where she knew it was sensitive. Shepard slowly pulled herself up until he was just barely inside her. “Please.”

Garrus shuddered underneath her. He was desperate. He’d just had her and still, she was reducing him to a desperate puddle of need.

“Please what, Garrus?” She was taunting him; teasing him. Her eyes dancing with mirth. “What is it you want, Vakarian.”

He groaned in frustration and moved to finally push her off him, but when he tried to move his arms, he found them held firmly in place. His eyes shot up to where a small biotic field held his wrists in place. When he looked back at Shephard she was grinning at him triumphantly. 

“Do you like my new trick?” she asked, swiveling her hips, the movement torturing him. Garrus felt himself spiraling into that puddle of need again. “I had a lot of time on my hands, thought I would work on some of the biotic skills Cerberus so kindly gifted me with. How does it make you feel, Garrus, that I can actually hold you down now?”

For the second time in a matter of minutes, Garrus whined with desire. Nothing had ever quite done this to him; made him so desperate that he’d be willing to anything she asked. The idea that she could physically control him...he honestly nearly came right at that moment. 

“Dani, please,” he gasped. “Please, just...ugh...please just fuck me already.”

She paused for a moment, biting her lip and studying him, her hips still swiveling, his tip still barely in her. 

“I like it when you say my name,” she said quietly. And then demanded. “Say it again.”

Garrus swallowed hard and forced himself to hold her gaze. 

“Danica.”

Fire flashed in her eyes and she slammed herself down on him. Garrus howled in pleasure as she set a grueling pace then, moving up and down on his cock, leaving him a panting, gasping mess. He fought against the biotic restraints, wanting to touch her but also enjoying the feeling of letting her control. Pleasure rolled over his body, like a warm sunny day on Palavan and sparks of electricity dancing across his plates at the same time. 

When he felt Danica beginning to flutter around him, he begged again. 

“I want to touch you,” he gasped. “Please, Dani, let me touch you.” 

Danica moaned and Garrus felt the biotic field release his arms. Immediately, he grabbed her waist for leverage and pushed himself up into her, hard. She cried out and then pushed right back. Garrus ran his rough hands over the smooth skin of her belly, feeling the ridges of the muscles there until he got to her breasts. He pulled at her nipples, pinching them between his fingers. 

She clamped down on him with a cry and the heat and the tightness was too much, pulling him over the edge again. It was as intense as the first one this time, but it was longer, more satisfying. He felt all the tension leech out his body until he was sure he wouldn’t be able to move for days. 

Danica fell off him with a moan and a shudder, and then promptly tucked herself into his side. Garrus slid down as far as he could without crushing his fringe and pulled her closer. Neither said anything for a few minutes until Danica sat up and pressed a kiss to his mandible before pulling away to get out of bed. 

“I’ve got to clean up,” she said quietly. “Need me to grab you anything? I put what looked like most of your toiletries in the bathroom.”

“Moved and unpacked my stuff, did you?” He asked, teasing. She winked at him. 

“Just being efficient, Vakarian,” she teased back, standing up and walking toward the bathroom. “Thought you’d appreciate that.”

“I do, very much so,” he chuckled. “I don’t need anything tonight.”

“Oh! I got you something.” She paused and pointed to the back corner of the cabin on the side of the bed. “One of your special Turian pillows so you don’t break that beautiful fringe of yours.”

Sure enough, on the floor was a Turian pillow, designed to let him sleep in a half-sitting position so his fringe wouldn’t get crushed. Garrus turned back to Danica to thank her to find her disappeared into the bathroom. With a groan, he pushed himself out of bed, waiting a moment to steady himself, and went to grab the pillow. When he placed it on the bed it took up half the space and realized that there wasn’t going to be any way for Danica to really sleep next to him. Turians weren’t much for cuddling, but he knew humans were. He was worried she’d be upset for a moment until he remembered that she didn’t really like to be touched when she slept anyway.

By the time she reemerged from the bathroom, Garrus was already settled in. He’d picked up their discarded clothes, making a note to himself to replace the items of hers he’d ruined, and begun to pull up the dossiers on the team Shepard had managed to assemble so far. The first one to come up was James Vega. A stab of jealousy shot through him. Danica and the soldier were close, that much Garrus could tell. The logical part of him knew it was silly to worry after the night they had just had, but he couldn’t help himself. 

“What’s the deal with Vega?” he asked, trying to sound casual. “You two seem to get along.”

Shepard snorted as she opened a drawer, pulled out a pair of plain black underwear and pulled them on before digging around in the drawer again.

“No need to be jealous, Big Guy,” she said, seeing right through him, as usual. “Vega is just...I don’t know...Vega. He was technically my assistant, so he roomed right next to me. When the nightmares were bad…”

Her voice cut off, emotion flooding her face. Garrus didn’t bother to stop the low, protective rumble coming from his chest, but he didn’t say anything as she pulled on a black tank top that came together in the center of her back, showing off her shoulder blades. It wasn’t one he’d seen her wear before and part of him wondered if she knew how sexy he found her shoulder blades. He set the thought aside when she continued after a few moments.

“The walls on base are thin,” she finally continued, walking back over to the bed. To his surprise, she pushed her way into his side, resting her head on his stomach where she didn’t have to compete with his giant pillow. It wasn’t quite the same as having her pressed tightly to his side, her face in his neck, but Garrus decided he liked this. “After the first few nights, he’d show up in the gym a couple of minutes after me. Never asked. Never pushed. He was just there. And he never stopped calling me Commander, even after they took me off active duty.

“That kid - and he is a kid; young, hot-headed, a little naive - he kept me sane for the last six months, Garrus. He’s a good friend; a good soldier. Reminds me a lot of myself when I was that age. But he’s nothing more than a good friend. If I couldn’t have you with me, I’m glad it was him. Probably Anderson’s doing. That old bastard is always at least two steps ahead of me.”

Garrus did his best to swallow his jealousy. He hated that he hadn’t been there for her; hate that someone else took care of her when she had nightmares. But at least she hadn’t been alone. 

“I wish I could have been there,” he said quietly. Danica shifted so her eyes could meet his. 

“Me too,” she whispered back. “I missed you...so much. I will never understand how you went two years believing I was gone.”

Garrus snorted. 

“I didn’t. Not really. I was a shell, even if I didn’t realize how much until you showed back up.” He paused. He pushed a piece of stray hair back from her face. “This time was different. I knew you were out there; I knew I was helping you the only way I could. Still sucked though.”

“How about we don’t do this again, okay?” Danica said with a grin. “Bad things happen when we split up.”

Garrus leaned forward to press his forehead against hers. 

“Couldn’t agree more,” he said, relieved at the lighter tone in her voice. There was more to say; things he needed to tell her. But the weariness was pulling on him and he could see it pulling at her too. “Shepard and Vakarian, yeah?

She studied his face for a few moments before nodding, understanding in her eyes. She knew, even if he hadn’t said it yet; just how he knew without her saying anything. They had both known for a while now, he realized. 

“Shepard and Vakarian,” she whispered back.


End file.
